JATIVA (formerly written XATIVA) or SAN FELIPE DE JATIVA, a town of eastern Spain, in the province of Valencia, on the right bank of the river Albaida, a tributary of the jucar, and at the junction of the Valencia-Murcia and Valencia-Albacete railways. Pop. (1930), 15,087. Jativa was the Roman Saetabis. afterwards Valeria Augusta, of Carthaginian or Iberian origin. Pliny (23-79) and Martial (c. 40-102) mention the excellence of its linen cloth. Under the Visigoths (c. 483-711) it became an episcopal see ; but early in the 8th century it was captured by the Moors, under whom it attained great prosperity, and received its present name. It was reconquered by James I. of Aragon
(1213-76). During the 15th and 16th centuries, Jativa was the home of many members of the house of Borgia or Borja, who migrated hither from Borja in Saragossa. Jativa is built on the margin of a fertile plain, and on the southern slopes of the Monte Bernisa, a hill with two peaks, each surmounted by a castle.